A/N: Yay! Reviews! I love you guys! This chapter was initially going to be one long chapter but after writing up till half way I decided to chop it and post the second half later as a separate chapter. Why? Because I'm evil!

TO: Taiyourshoes, you scared me for a bit! But I'm currently on 111 reviews and I counted back 11 and number 100 was definitely MissMrprk. Phew! And I want to thank you for recommending my story! Wicked!

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Lily sat perched on the edge of Petunia's bed picking absentmindedly at the crispy white material. Petunia's bed was always immaculately made and the sheets were always pressed so straight that it felt almost stiff. The rest of the room also followed a similar pattern, everything was clean and dust free, even all her books were properly catalogued and placed on the shelf in order of size. Lily had long suspected that her sister suffered from a heavy dose of Obsessive Compulsive Behavior with neatness but she wasn't about to mention it, especially today of all days.

"Please, Petunia!" She pleaded. Petunia was sitting at her dressing table arranging her hair with a comb. Unlike Lily, she had not inherited the deep red hair from their Mother but the light brown from their Father. Neither did she have the green eyes but a light brown to match her hair. The two could not look more different from each one another, which was just fine with Petunia who preferred to think of herself as an only child.

Petunia looked down her nose to Lily in her reflection. Her eyes dropped to Lily's wandering hand on the sheets and Lily quickly snatched her hand up and stood up. Double checking that she hadn't left a crease on the sheets Lily pleaded again.

"It's just for tonight I promise. Please be nice to him."

"You're begging me to be nice to your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend! He's just-"

"Then why is he so important?"

"I just don't want-"

Holding up a hand to stop her in mid sentence she said, "Actually, don't tell me, I don't want to know about it." Petunia's nostrils flared and she glared at Lily in her reflection. "I told you, I don't want anything to do with your..." she waved her hand in the air for lack of name to call it. "Your freakiness."

Lily sucked in some air, careful to remain calm. She was walking on a tight rope here and one hasty move and she could send the conversation into a full-blown argument. The last thing she needed was for her sister to be in a bad mood. "You won't have anything to do with it. All you have to do is sit through dinner and not make...any comments on what you think of magic." Lily tried to pick her words carefully but upon hearing the word magic Petunia blanched and looked around as if someone might overhear them in her room.

"Don't say that!" she snapped. "I told you not to say that word! I don't want people to think that we're all freaks! Some of us happen to be normal people you know."

Lily could feel herself grinding teeth. "Look Petunia, I've never had one of my...special friends over before and I just want everything to go well tonight."

"And don't you start making a habit out of it!"

"I honestly wouldn't mind if you would prefer to go out tonight. Maybe go out with your boyfriend of something." Lily suggested.

Petunia let out a short high-pitched laugh. "You are not going to kick me out of my own house Lily. I'd hate to think what would happen if I weren't here! Mum and Dad might be blind to your- your kind, but I am not!" she lowered her voice fearing to be heard by others. "I've had a look at one of your supposed spell books." She hissed. "Everything in is it wrong! Incantations to make things float and to set things on fire! You're nothing but a destructive bomb that hasn't blown yet!"

Lily could feel herself getting angry. "You snooped in my room while I was away?" She was glad that she left nothing remotely important in her room while she was away. Petunia had probably just come across a grade two spell book or something.

"I'm just trying to protect us from you! Mark my words, I know that you will bring nothing but trouble to us!" Petunia stood up and wrenched open the door of her closet and rummaged for a cardigan.

"Hello sister! Us happens to include me too!"

"There is no us when it involves you Lily." She said coldly.

Lily could not remember since when the relationship between her sister and herself had gone so bad. There might have been a time when her older sister had adored her like a normal sister, but when she had proved just how far from normal she really was everything had gone sour. Yet her words still cut and Lily left the room trying very hard not to cry.

She wandered into her own room amazed that she had even tried to talk to Petunia about being on her best behavior. With a deep sigh she dropped to her bed which was covered with a thick squishy duvet and an assortment of comfortable cushions. A wind chime given to her by one of her friends sang solemnly in the slight breeze from her open window. It's gentle tinkering seemed somehow melancholy as Lily searched for comfort in the familiarity of her room and its contents.

In the corner closest to her door she had her wardrobe and beside that a dressing table and an old desk where all her books and quills lay scattered. Her emptied trunk stood in front of the desk waiting for her return to Hogwarts. Lily sniffed and decided that she would not feel bad because she could not expect anymore of Petunia, and also, if she didn't want to alarm her parents by coming to the table with red eyes.

James would arrive in less than half an hour and it was about time that she got ready anyway. The same anxiousness that had been plaguing her for the past week began to trickle back into her stomach. Why in the world was James Potter going to be coming to Lily Evan's house for dinner? She'd feel immensely relieved if he called or owled to cancel but at the same time she knew she might feel a bit disappointed if he'd done that. Dragging a brush through her hair she began to wonder again. Why had James accepted? Was he only coming because he felt pressured into coming? Most likely. Lily smiled to herself at the memory of James' scared face when her parents had cornered him. James had always been confident bordering on cocky and she had never seen him so nervous before...

Lily sighed again. She knew that the evening would only go in extremes tonight, Either it would be very good or it would go very bad. She was inclined to think it would go towards the negative but there was nothing left but to see.

Lily backed away from the mirror so she could get a full look at herself. Casual was best she decided and a minute later she inspected her reflection critically and straightened the wide shoulders of her white cashmere top and picked a bit of fluff off her jeans. It was only dinner and nothing overly important she convinced herself but went back to the mirror to inspect her applied mascara.

Next came the subject that she had not yet reached a decision for. She sat on her bed again with two wrapped boxes. Christmas was just around the corner and it seemed wrong if James did not receive a present although the same didn't quite apply to the other Marauders. She and James shared Head duties after all, she reasoned and that alone merited as a friend status and therefore a present was required.

However, choosing a present was much harder than anything she had encountered before. What would you buy for a person that already had everything he wanted? After spending many hours in Diagon Alley finishing off her present's list she had left his to last. Finally passing a book shop she had purchased a small book with interesting facts about Quidditch. Not quite satisfied that it was a suitable present, the book had haunted her for a few days before a better idea occurred to her. For the last few weeks at school she had hand knitted a scarf for her Dad as a Christmas present and just then it seemed like there was no reason that James wouldn't want a scarf too. Winter at Hogwarts was no by any means mild and she hadn't seen him wear one before...

Before she knew it she had a new roll of wool out and she was knitting as fast as she could, wishing she could use magic. Presented with the finished garment however her opinion had changed again. Wasn't something like a scarf a bit too personal? She could imagine it was a present for someone in the family or a boyfriend but to a friend? Maybe the book was a better idea... The problem of course was now that both were wrapped in identical boxes and covered in identical paper and she could not tell which was which. The book was thin and barely weighed more than the completed scarf and she had also padded it with tissue paper so it wouldn't rattle in the box so shaking it wouldn't help neither.

Without fully reaching a final decision Lily heard the distinctive pop outside on her drive. Running to her window she leaned out just in time to see James hesitate at her front door. He was dressed nicely in dark jeans and a black shirt and with an odd thump in her heart Lily went down to open the door.

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A/N: OOOOOOOOOO...Will Petunia ruin it? And which present will Lily give James?